Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, Texas, is the home of the F-35 Lightning II, where more than half the 14,000 employees support the Program. / Lockheed Martin

by Caitlin McGlade, The Arizona Republic

by Caitlin McGlade, The Arizona Republic

PHOENIX -- The number of F-35 Lightning II training squadrons coming to Luke Air Force Base has doubled, which should secure the Phoenix-area base's future as it draws down its F-16 jet inventory.

The announcement came Thursday with praise from a slate of dignitaries at the base in Glendale and in missives from the state's Congressional delegation in Washington, D.C.

The base is preparing for 144 F-35s to arrive over the next 10 years, up from the 72 that military officials announced last August. The first jets should arrive in spring 2014.

Luke competed with bases in Tucson, New Mexico and Idaho for the three additional squadrons.

More than 5,000 people work at the 72-year-old base.

The increased squadrons will ensure Luke continues to be an economic engine despite plans to transfer a third of the base's 137 F-16s to Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico over the next couple of years. By 2021, Luke is expected to have replaced nearly all of its F-16s with the newer model fighter jets.

Officials peg Luke's economic impact at nearly $2 billion annually. Spending on construction alone to prepare for the new mission is expected to be as much as $263.2 million over the next decade.

"Today's announcement is good news for Luke Air Force Base, good news for Arizona and good news for America," Gov. Jan Brewer said at a news conference on the base. "And I might add, bad news for anyone who would like to challenge our nation's defense of freedom."

The mission will bring several hundred new personnel, including pilots from seven other countries that have partnered with the United States to research and develop the technology, said Air Force Brig. Gen. Mike Rothstein, 56th Fighter Wing commander.

The F-35s, which cost roughly $120 million each, are billed as the military's next generation of fighter jets. They are stealthier than their F-16 predecessors, which cost about $22 million. The F-35 is more difficult for radars to pinpoint, is outfitted with more advanced computer systems and carries weapons internally, while F-16s may only carry weapons on their exteriors, Rothstein said.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office called the F-35 program the Department of Defense's "most costly and ambitious aircraft acquisition" as the investment is approaching $400 billion to develop and acquire 2,457 aircraft through 2037.

Cost reduction efforts are underway, as Defense Department officials deemed the cost of sustaining F-35 fleets unaffordable, according to the GAO's April report.

Luke officials have not seen an impact from the automatic federal budget cuts known as the sequester on the F-35 program. A base spokesman, Capt. Tristan Hinderliter, said officials are not speculating about what impacts it may have in the future.

Crews at the base are building operations and maintenance facilities for the first round of jets, along with an academic training site that will house the base's simulators. As more squadrons arrive, the base will have to either refurbish old sites or build new ones.

The base oversees roughly 120 flights a day, a number that Rothstein said wouldn't increase by much despite the influx of new jets.

"As we phase out F-16s we'll be ramping up F-35s," he said. "It's not a perfect one-for-one swap but, in the macro sense, its pretty close to that."

He said the new jets are "a little bit louder" than the F-16s.

Like the base's F-16s, the F-35s will be used primarily for training and would only set out for combat in an emergency, Rothstein said.